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Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after COVID-19

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 12977

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Mark A. Bonn

*
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Dedman School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, The Robert H. Dedman Professor in Services Management, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2541, USA
Interests: tourism; supply chain management; organizational behavior; strategic marketing; research methods
* Retired

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the past several years, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global tourism, bringing the industry to its knees. It has faced and continues to address unprecedented challenges and setbacks. Similar to those post-recovery situations caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, fires and tornadoes, recovery from the global pandemic also offers the opportunity to re-think the way tourism destinations and their services are structured to better brand, manage, and market these areas and their associated products/services, using paradigms created out of the necessity to persevere.

As the busiest time for travel rapidly approaches, demand for travel by consumers has begun to explode. Challenges with supply and the ability to attract and satisfy the traveling public remain problematic. Even the world’s most robust enterprises such as the airlines, lodging corporations and international foodservice struggle with labor and supply shortages demanded and expected by the traveling public. As the world has witnessed tens of thousands of less resilient tourism enterprises fail, new businesses along with different skill sets have emerged and are realizing success.

This Special Issue in Sustainability is entitled “Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after Covid-19”. It is devoted to qualitative and quantitative research, along with case studies that address how destinations, facilities, services, attractions, visitors, and residents have responded and are adjusting to the global tourism crisis caused by COVID-19. As an example, trends and demand for more rural tourism experiences has risen. Benefits sought through travel experiences for many now require less interaction with large groups. This particular phenomenon in consumer behavior attributed to the pandemic has presented new sets of challenges for many rural areas previously not impacted by this segment of tourism. Demand for travel offering limited exposure to others represents carrying capacity issues. This has forced many areas to re-think the way they have previously been able to successfully manage demand for the remote-seeking traveler market segment. In some situations, numbers of daily visitors have been re-assessed. In other cases, reservations have become required and are strictly managed. Many tourism businesses have raised the cost of participation to control demand. Are these temporary solutions to much larger problems that the tourism industry will soon face? How will these and other decisions impact visitor satisfaction, willingness to return, and overall image of a destination? What is the long-term effect these decisions will have upon sustainable tourism? What models are working well, and which success stories need to be embraced by other global tourism regions?

Submissions should address important qualitative and quantitative issues central to rebuilding tourism. As examples, topics can address historical, cultural, environmental, social, economic, political, and geographical issues with respect to attracting and servicing the traveling public sustainably. All conceptual, theoretical, and case study submissions related to ‘Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism” are invited for publication consideration in this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Mark A. Bonn
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

international tourism
sustainable tourism
pandemic tourism

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1304 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green Social Media Campaigns: Influencing Consumers’ Attitudes and Behaviors

by Rakhshan Ummar, Kanwal Shaheen, Iram Bashir, Junaid Ul Haq and Mark A. Bonn

Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 12932; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712932 - 27 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2635

Abstract

The main aim of this research was to shed light on the influence of social media campaigns on consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism, aligning with sustainable consumer behavior. However, the prior literature explored the campaign characteristics and perceived usefulness of attitudes toward green consumption that translate into green consumer behavior. Data were collected from four hundred social media users, and the confirmatory factor was used to measure their reliability and validity. Hypotheses were measured through structural equation modeling. This research suggested that managers should consider campaign characteristics such as informativeness and persuasiveness to develop positive attitudes toward green tourism. Moreover, researchers should focus on social media campaign characteristics and perceived usefulness as antecedents of consumers’ attitudes toward green tourism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after COVID-19)

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24 pages, 3774 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Approach to Extracting Tourism Focus Points from Chinese Inbound Tourist Reviews after COVID-19

by Zhenzhen Liu, Fumito Masui, Juuso Eronen, Shun Terashita and Michal Ptaszynski

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8748; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118748 - 30 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1280

Abstract

The number of inbound tourists in Japan has been increasing steadily in recent years. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of inbound tourists decreased in 2020. This is particularly worrisome for Japan, as the number of inbound tourists is expected to reach 60 million per year by 2030. In order to help Japan’s tourism industry to recover from the pandemic, we propose a method of identifying elements that attract the attention of inbound tourists (focus points) by analyzing reviews on tourist sites. We focus on Hokkaido, a popular area in Japan for tourists from China. Our proposed method extracts high-frequency n-gram patterns from reviews written by Chinese inbound tourists, showing which aspects are mentioned most often. We then use seven types of motivational factors for tourists and principal component analysis to quantify the focus points of each tourist destination. Finally, we estimate the focus points by clustering the n-gram patterns extracted from the tourists’ reviews. The results show that our method successfully identifies the features and focus points of each tourist spot. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after COVID-19)

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16 pages, 1578 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Hygiene Factors on Online Hotel Consumption in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Chuanming Sun, Xingyu Chai, Qing Fan and Wenyuan Zhang

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3537; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043537 - 14 Feb 2023

Viewed by 1750

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its risk of repeated fluctuations, has shifted the basis for decisions on tourism spending. Thus, it is crucial for the hospitality industry to understand the factors that influence accommodation consumption. Grounded in signaling theory, our empirical analysis is based on analyzing data from eLong on 7209 Chinese hotels using binary logistic regression and the ordinary least squares method (OLS). The main findings are as follows: (1) completeness of information, online hygiene rating and hygiene recommendation tags have a significant impact on hotel consumption; (2) online hygiene rating has a positively significant moderating effect on the relationship between information completeness and hotel sales; and (3) there is variability in the factors that influence the generation and growth of hotel sales. In addition, we discuss the role of online travel agencies (OTAs) and provide relevant advice for practitioners. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after COVID-19)

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16 pages, 3373 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Crisis Adaptation in a Thai Community-Based Tourism Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Phenomenological Approach

by Raksmey Sann, Pei-Chun Lai and Chi-Ting Chen

Sustainability 2023, 15(1), 340; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010340 - 26 Dec 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2754

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19 has severely impacted industries and individual lives globally. Due to travel restrictions and social distancing to reduce the spread of the disease, it has seriously affected the travel and tourism industry in Thailand, especially its community-based tourism. The impact of travel bans has magnified employment and income loss to most local families and their communities, negatively impacting the development of local tourism economies. Purpose: The main objective of this study is to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on community-based tourism as well as its adaptation solutions using a case study from a specific region in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach: Using a phenomenological approach, a series of qualitative face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 42 stakeholders involved in community-based tourism. Findings: The study results indicate that job relocation, temporary business closures, reducing fixed costs, and increasing different sale channels represent the most critical factors impacting CBT operational activities directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis and requiring immediate action. Other supplementary actions involve government financial support, business compensation, early vaccination, reduction of agricultural debt, and increasing agricultural product value. Social implications: These study findings offer direction for Thai governmental policy makers and CBT leaders for the establishment of actionable practices designed to respond rapidly and appropriately to local communities and entrepreneurs during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality: The originality of this research was obtained from local stakeholders’ insights on the impacts of COVID-19 upon community-based tourism in the northeast region of Thailand, where tourism represents significant economic value in terms of salaries, wages, and employment generation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after COVID-19)

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16 pages, 1050 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does Greenwashing Influence the Green Product Experience in Emerging Hospitality Markets Post-COVID-19?

by Hongfan Zhang, Qurat Ul Ainn, Iram Bashir, Junaid Ul Haq and Mark A. Bonn

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12313; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912313 - 28 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3705

Abstract

The purpose of this research explores the influence that awareness of green products has on greenwashing, green consumer confusion, and its influence on the green product experience following COVID-19. Consumer behavioral outcomes, including repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions, are addressed. A survey was conducted to analyze the proposed hypotheses. Data were obtained from 440 consumers of hotel industry products (overnight guests). Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to observe the collected data’s validity. Structural equational modelling was then used to support hypothesis testing. Findings documented that greenwashing is adversely linked to the consumer’s green product experience, which then leads to negative WOM and lower repurchase intention. Greenwashing leads to negatively affecting the reputation of marketers, as buyers avoid repeat product purchasing. Moreover, dissatisfied buyers spread negative word-of-mouth about those specific products. This study’s contribution identifies consequences of marketers using greenwashing strategies which confuse buyers about products, and negatively affect consumer intention to repurchase hotel products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rebuilding Sustainable Global Tourism after COVID-19)

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